The Sims 4 Comedy Skill

Getting Your Comedian Playful, Skill Unlocks, and Making Money

by Tom "Metro" Schlueter

Patch Adams (my tip of the hat to the great Robin Williams) works the crowd with a Short Routine at the nightclub.

The Sims 4's Comedy Skill will allow your Sim to make money while performing Comedy Routines, and even refine them to improve their quality. This Skill can make Sims so hilarious that Sims who are feeling playful can die laughing at their jokes. Comedy unlocks several new Funny Socials and you're likely to enjoy the animations that come with it, while also raking in some fairly good money from writing Comedy Books. Here are our tips to getting playful and making the most of the Comedy Skill.

How to: Comedy CheatsPress Control + Shift + C then type testingcheats on and press enter. You can now set your skill level with stats.set_skill_level major_comedy x (fill in 1-10) - we also have a full listing of Skill Cheats and a master list of Cheats in The Sims 4

Choosing Traits for Your Comedian

Goofball - These Sims are prone to be Playful and want to make others laugh. This is the perfect match for leveling Comedy because skill gain will be faster while Playful.

Outgoing - This is almost a must given the friendship requirements of any of the Popularity Category Aspirations. You'll make your life a lot easier.

Music Lover - I chose this primarily to get another buff while Patch was inside working on routines, etc. Plus, it opens up more socials which is always nice.

With the Popularity Aspirations, Sims get the bonus trait of Gregarious which helps build relationships faster. The natural choice for Patch was the Popularity > Joke Star Aspiration - a desire to tell lots of jokes and eventually become a famous comedian. Hmmm, we'll see about that. I may need to enlist ghost writers with real talent.

Charisma's ImportanceWhile Comedy can be done without any Charisma Skill and you'll certainly find success, Jokes' success rates are boosted by higher and higher levels of Charisma. That means the higher your Charisma Skill (and Comedy) the more likely your jokes are to be taken as humorous rather than boring.

Getting Started in Comedy & Getting PlayfulBefore you tear off and have your aspiring comedian immediately level up to start doing routines at the nightclub, let me offer a couple suggestions that will make things easier - get Cooking to skill level 3 and be in a Playful mood when you click the stove, then you can make Silly Gummy Bear Pancakes (eating them provides a boost). Sell any shower that came with a starter home and replace it with a Tub because Bubble Baths provide another boost to Playful. You can also watch funny videos on Sim.tv at the computer and watch Comedy shows on television to stack more playful moodlets.

Getting to Very Playful means even faster Comedy skill gain.

Moodlets going on in the above screenshot: Bubbles, Playful Decor, Feeling Playful, Gummy Bear Giggles, Hilarious Show, and Hilarious Videos. So, given how Playful Patch is at the moment it was time to finally learn the Comedy skill. So, I clicked on the computer and had him Write Jokes to gain a level in Comedy.

Making Routines Not So Routine & Earning Money with ComedyOnce Patch got to level 3 Comedy he was able to write a short routine on the computer. I needed him to start making money and was curious how much a comedy routine would actually pay. So Patch finished writing the Cats Cats Cats short comedy routine and headed to the nightclub. He did back to back performances and received $75 each time.

If no one is attentive and directly in front of your Sim, then you will not get paid for a routine.

The way the comedy routine payout works is there is no relationship to your comedian's skill level and/or emotional state and the amount they get paid - there are flat amounts for base quality short ($75), medium ($125), and long ($200) routines. But, you can pump up these figures by refining the routine at the computer (skill level 5 unlock). There are three quality levels to any routine: Okay, Good, and Excellent. An Excellent short routine pays $112; Excellent Medium = $188; Excellent Long = $330.

On top of the quality level of a routine there is one final factor influencing payout: how many Sims are actually watching your comedian. Don't be surprised if sometimes your comedian gets no payment - everyone in the nightclub may be otherwise occupied (at the bar, dancing to the music, upstairs using the restroom, etc) as the set winds down and the payment mechanic kicks in.

Doing Excellent routines several times a day is actually pretty good money, but I want to offer the same advice as I did in my Guitar guide - go to the park to perform routines. The nightclub is obviously the natural place to get started since the microphone is already there and you do not need to buy one. But, learn your chops, refine some routines, and then purchase a microphone and some Playful Decor for the park - you can earn a lot more money there because there are fewer distractions for visiting Sims. You can also invite Sims you know on your visit to the park so that there are more present to listen.

Routines at the Park can make more Money, as there are fewer distractions for Sims

New SocialsSome of the new social options available when you are in a Playful state can add some spice to otherwise bland conversations, and the animations are really funny...

The Flash Crazy Eyes Social

Eliza Pancakes finds herself on the receiving end of Patch's Slap 'Em Silly.

Killing the Audience and Making it Big
As Carl states in his Entertainer Career Guide there is definitely money to be made for a comedian by choosing the Career route. I did not have Patch go into the Entertainment career and just focused on stand up routines and writing comedy books (level 7 unlock). It seems more viable than the pure Guitar route because a comedian can stack royalties writing Comedy books whereas with Guitar you only get royalty fees from licensing one song. So if you write only 5-6 Comedy books you are looking at $1000-1200 in royalties a day, and then do 3 long performances of an excellent routine and that's going to be about another $1000 simoleans. Not too shabby at all.

There's no Killer Joke, but Sims may Die Laughing from a Comedian's Performance.

Closing Act
Comedy took longer to cap than Fitness and Guitar (my two other Guide articles to date), but I did not care because I had lots of fun. Patch was a more balanced Sim given how I set things up initially. Plus, he needed more friends as he worked on his Joke Star Aspiration. The one reward I ended up purchasing was Night Owl to help speed up the last few skill levels. If you are a full time comedian and Comedy Book royalties become a main portion of your income, then purchasing Creative Visionary to increase your chance at Writing a Masterwork is another smart reward choice.

When I finished the Guitar skill Guide article I felt a little lukewarm on the skill to be honest. Comedy, on the other hand, I feel the developers knocked it out of the park. There are lots of funny new animations with the skill, and whether you decide to go into the Entertainment career or not, there is plenty of money to be made with Comedy.

Look at Patch's midsection compared to the first screenshot - hmmmm...too many Gummy Bear Pancakes?

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I love everything you do for us simmers, but I just had to say something about this. Patch Adams wasn't just a movie that Robin Williams played in. That movie was based off reality. The actual Patch Adams name is Hunter Doherty Adams. Please show him some respect.

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